Melanie Pullen 'Soldier #7' (Soldier Series), 2007 , Transparency in Lightbox, 62" (H) x 43" (W) Edition of 3 / Courtesy ACE GALLERY Los Angeles
Andrea Offermann for ceative face Magazine
At present ACE GALLERY Los Angeles showcases Melanie Pullen with her solo-exhibition Violent Times. The L.A.-based photographer styled her past images based on 1950's forensic photos. Melanie Pullen was born in New York City in 1975. Self-taught and raised in a family of photojournalists, publishers, and artists, she currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Violent Times is on exhibit through August 2008.
With two spacious locations on Wilshire Blvd. close to LACMA, ACE GALLERY Los Angeles enjoys the possibility to show 2 artists in 2 locations at the same time, yet offering each artist their own space. D'arcy Rosenbrock from ACE Gallery puts emphasis on the fact that each exhibition aims to carefully orchestrate the artwork with the space to enhance the impact of the work and underline the individual character of the art.
In Violent Times Melanie Pullen departs from her 'High Fashion Crime Scenes' series and explores a new direction with war-imagery of different eras. While recreating a diverse range of imagery from journalistic photographs of war scenes to iconic paintings of war heroes, dramatic lighting, make-up and costume always remind the viewer that this is a staged scene and add a surrealistic quality to the images. At the same time this staged quality brings the different methods of war glorification and/or commentary through the available media of the time to the viewer's attention.
A group of abstract and colorized images is set apart from the rest in a section of 6 connected smaller gallery rooms. Through the display of the images on light-boxes the images themselves are the light source for the room and the viewer is engulfed by the images rather than just viewing them, and feels almost a part of the artwork. The beauty of these abstract images, that lighten up each room in a different vibrant color, and create a joyous atmosphere, is jarred when the viewer finds out that these images are shots of bio-warfare agents such as anthrax. The political commentary of these pieces gains more impact through this stark contrast.
ACE GALLERY's spacious exhibition rooms, almost comparable to generous museum space, give these images the monumental surroundings they need to translate to the viewer. More than exhibited the images seem staged, which fits their arranged quality well. Where intimacy is needed, for example when displaying the warfare agent shots, the gallery chooses well in separating them in 6 small connected gallery rooms that speak as a whole.
